As the population ages and demand grows for managing chronic diseases, Korea's care food market is expanding rapidly. As food and dairy companies race to expand their businesses, the core products are broadly divided into dysphagia diets (嚥下食) and texture-modified diets (軟化食).
According to the industry on the 4th, OTOKI is preparing to launch a care food-only brand called "Oneul Care." Product development is still in the early stage, and the company plans to introduce texture-modified items first, such as frozen ready-to-cook foods and desserts. It also plans to review developing dysphagia diets going forward.
Care food is customized for older adults and patients who need special nutrition. In the past, it focused on meals for people with diabetes, kidney disease, and cancer, but recently demand has expanded to include pregnant women, infants and toddlers, and general consumers seeking low-sodium and low-sugar diets, growing the market size.
Product categories can be broadly divided into dysphagia diets and texture-modified diets. The general option that supplements reduced swallowing (swallowing food) and digestion function is the dysphagia diet. All ingredients are blended so they can be consumed like a smooth porridge or beverage.
Texture-modified diets supplement reduced chewing function when putting food in the mouth and chewing. They maintain the taste and appearance of regular foods but feature finely chopped ingredients or special processing for softness so they can be eaten with the tongue or gums.
For now, dysphagia diets account for most of the market share in Korea's care food market. Daesang Wellife is leading the market with its "New Care" brand. According to the 2024 ranking of special medical-purpose food companies released by the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, Daesang Wellife recorded 223.8 billion won in sales, ranking No. 1.
Dairy processors are also focusing on dysphagia diets. Maeil Dairies and Ildong Foodis, which compete mainly with protein drinks, are representative. Maeil Dairies is strengthening its care food business by renewing its nutrition brand "Mediwell." Ildong Foodis launched products targeting people with diabetes through "Hi-Mune Caremate."
In the texture-modified segment, Hyundai Green Food is at the forefront. Through its "Greeting" brand, Hyundai Green Food is expanding its lineup around low-sugar, high-protein, and low-calorie menus. It is broadening supply not only to hospitals and nursing facilities but also through general consumer channels.
Hyundai Green Food has not only collaborated with hospitals and universities through its care food research lab but also built dedicated production facilities. In 2020, the company invested about 100 billion won to establish the "Smart Food Center" and introduced a large number of specialized cooking devices for texture-modified diets, such as saturated steam ovens.
CJ Freshway has expanded care food supply through its Healthy Nuri brand. In addition to distributing ingredients to senior welfare facilities, it also sells directly to individual consumers online, including on Naver Shopping. Pulmuone is going beyond a simple supply model to offer an online subscription service.
A food industry official said, "As the care food market grows, there will be more brands and product types, and the target consumers will become more segmented," adding, "In particular, texture-modified diets border on regular meals, making it a good area for food companies to leverage their existing research and development (R&D) capabilities and production competitiveness."
The growth of Korea's care food market is also evident in the numbers. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), the market expanded from about 700 billion won in 2014 to 1.1 trillion won in 2017 and was estimated to have grown to around 3 trillion won last year. The outlook projects it will reach 5 trillion won by 2030.